Encouragement

I've had an interesting weekend so far. It's been encouraging in a weird sort of way. Allow me to share:

Encouragement #1:

For starters, Dan's old high school friend Brad came into town with his wife Lisa. It was great to see them. They came for dinner Friday night. Naturally Dan had to show Brad his brew station which left Lisa and I some time to chit-chat. I should mention something: Brad and Lisa have a 3 yr. old and a 1 yr. old at home. And one on the way. She looked great, but by 8:00 she was yawning as we were talking. I was yawny, too. Hilarious.

What a find most interesting of all is that Lisa and I spent the next hour or two talking about the challenges of pregnancy, breastfeeding, raising children, etc. Lisa is a strong midwest woman. I had never heard a woman from the midwest tell it like it is regarding pregnancy. Or breastfeeding. 

The next day, Dan received an email from her apologizing for her pregnancy rants. I laughed and told him to tell her that she immensely encouraged me that night. I needed someone to admit to the difficulties in pregnancy and breastfeeding and she did it. She was my encouragement. 

Encouragement #2:

Eve is going through a growth spurt. Yesterday she was eating every hour and a half and sometimes she ate again even after a half hour. Ugh. I don't know why I even bothered to put a shirt on yesterday. 

I was bone weary. Dan offered to watch Eve and feed her a bottle if necessary. I went window shopping for 2 hours. Anything to get out of the house. 

When I came home, a very tired Dan greeted me. Apparently in the 2 hours I was gone, Eve had one whole bottle feeding (4 oz.) and after a little while downed an additional 2 more ounces. She kept fussing and wanting to eat. He didn't get anything else done but feed and burp and hold Eve. 

Call me sadistic, but seeing my husband tired after 2 hours of bottle feeding made me realize that this job is tough; I smiled at the thought. 

Encouragement #3:

Eve is growing. Growing kids eat. A lot.

Encouragment #4:

Quite possibly one of the funniest books on motherhood I have ever read. My sister Noel sent it to me. I have gone to bed nearly in tears with tiredness, but read a part of this book and felt encouraged, able to laugh at the strange requirements of motherhood.

Post script:

A special thanks to Jenni for her encouragement, too. Jenni told me that even though one has had a lot of fertility trouble and really, really wanted a baby, that the job is no less hard. Thanks, Jenni.